“One Stop Shopping”
Isaiah 9:1-7
At our stage of life with 4 children and 14 grandchildren Carollyn and I try to keep our Christmas shopping simple. When our children were younger we would race from store to store trying to buy the latest toy for our children. Do any of you remember the Cabbage Patch Doll? I spent many hours looking for just the right doll.
Now we send money, Barnes & Noble gift cards, and on line certificates. I like the super stores like Target and Wal Mart where you can get one stop shopping.
It’s amazing how the latest system like X Box becomes too slow and the X Box 360 is better because it’s faster and better graphics. Now if you have the money you can get the Sony Play Station 3. Our grandchildren enjoy MP 3/4 players, I pods, PS 3 and PSP. The high price gifts soon become routine and boring.
Many of us want to move up to a HD TV or some other electronic gadget.
Many of these gifts are entertaining but they don’t last. Howard Stern, a while back signed a contract for 500 million to host a Satellite radio program. Does 500 million fill a void in a person’s life? Howard Stern was interviewed by a reporter and asked if he was happy. Howard Stern said, “No I’m not happy.”
No gift given on this planet can bring complete happiness.
There is only one place I know where we can go for one-stop shopping and fill the void in our heart and life. The place is actually a person – Jesus.
Isaiah 9:6-7 tells about the coming Messiah that would bring the ultimate gifts to humankind. When you have the gifts Jesus gives you don’t need any more. The gifts Jesus gives provide you with one stop shopping.
Jesus is wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of peace and the government will be upon His shoulders.
Wonderful Counselor is connected, but I want to discuss them separately.
Jesus is Wonderful. Jesus is beyond our greatest expectations. Jesus is His wonderful name. One of the songs the adult and children’s choir sang on Friday, Saturday and Sunday described the wonderful name of Jesus.
“Jesus! Wonderful Counselor; Jesus! Mighty Prince of Peace; Jesus! Everlasting Father, Alpha and Omega, He is the King of glory: Jesus is His wonderful name!
“Jesus! The ancient of days; Jesus! The Holy One of Israel, Alpha and Omega, He is the King of glory: Jesus is His wonderful name!”
The Bible describes heaven as a wonderful place. Scripture says in I Corinthians 2:9, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, or mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.”
Jesus is wonderful. He will far surpass your greatest expectations.
Jesus is Counselor. A counselor is one who gives counsel and advice. When Jesus ascended into heaven he sent the person of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost to come along side of Christians to give guidance and counsel. Jesus is our Counselor. He never leaves us or forsakes us.
We find counsel through prayer and through the Word of God. Have you ever been working on something that had you stumped? Out of the blue a thought comes to you and the idea is just what you were looking for. That is the work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said the Holy Spirit would guide us into truth.
God’s Word promises to guide our steps as the Psalmist sang out: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” Psalm 119:105
When we sing the hymn: “Guide me O Thou Great Jehovah,” we are seeking God’s guidance as our Counselor. Hymn 51, verse 1.
Jesus is Mighty God. The prophet Isaiah prophesied that a Messiah would come and be a Wonderful-Counselor, Mighty God. The Scriptures clearly teach that with God nothing is impossible. Power from heaven is available for us to live a life of victory.
Jesus proclaimed in Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Power is available to break bad habits, addictions, and anything that keeps a person from being like Jesus. Habits and addictions are not broken because even through a person prays for victory there continues to be a longing for the comfort and euphoria that the addition brings the person. The power of Jesus is available to give you deliverance from the lusts of the flesh, the pride of life and the addictions of this world.
From Genesis to Revelation the scriptures are about power encounters. When Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt the ten plagues were a direct confrontation to the gods of Egypt. The Nile River as worshiped as a life-giving god. Life in Egypt was dependent on the flow of the Nile River in that desert region.
When Moses turned the Nile River Red like blood it was an affront to the Nile god. Pharaoh made it his practice to go to the Nile every morning to worship. Moses and Aaron met Pharaoh at the river and showed Pharaoh how powerless the Nile god really was.
The plague of frogs came up from the Nile. Because the frogs came from the Nile the Egyptians treated them as sacred and would not kill them.
When Moses brought on a deep darkness across the land the darkness was a challenge to Re the Sun god of the Egyptians.
The tenth plague of taking the lives of all first born of Egypt was in direct contrast to Pharaoh demanding that all boys born to the children of Israel’s women be killed. All first born of Israel would be saved when the death angel passed over if the blood of a lamb was put on the door frame. This was a fore-shadow of the coming Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world.
For the children of Israel God was a Mighty Warrior. God fought for the children of Israel until they reached Canaan the Promised Land.
The Hymn: “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” speaks of the mighty power of God. Hymn 26, verse 1.
Jesus is Everlasting Father. Jesus is a wonderful counselor, mighty God and everlasting Father. Jesus is eternal. Jesus is equal with God the Father. Jesus has no beginning and no ending. Jesus as our everlasting Father guarantees that the future of all His followers is secure.
If you have had a bad experience with your earthly father, you can take hope that you have a heavenly Father. Jesus said, “When you pray, say “Our Father who art in heaven.” We have the assurance that the creator of heaven and earth is “My Father.”
We were all created for another world. All that you can achieve in this world does not satisfy. We need an everlasting Father to satisfy. Jesus is our Messiah. Jesus is our long expected Savior.
Let’s sing the first verse of “Come, Thou long Expected Jesus.” Hymn # 124
Jesus is Prince of Peace. Jesus is our wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father and Prince of Peace. Jesus is our Shalom. In a world in turmoil, war torn and ravished by suicide bombers, there is no peace? A day is coming when this world will be free from war and strife. There will be peace on earth.
A day of peace is coming. But the Scriptures tell us that we can have peace now. We can have peace with God in our heart. There is only one way you can have peace and that is in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus said in John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Let’s sing a verse about God’s peace, Hymn 500 “Wonderful Peace.”
Jesus came as a new born babe born in a manger in a field near Bethlehem. He lived for 33 years proclaiming the Kingdom of God, healing, teaching, and training his disciples to continue the work he started. He was crucified and rose again and is coming again to set up his final and eternal reign.
Revelation 19:6-7, 11, 16 – Jesus will come as King of kings and Lord of lords. When Jesus comes the second time he’ll not come as a babe He will come as a mighty warrior – King of kings and Lord of lords. “The government will be upon His shoulders. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.” Isaiah 9:4,7
When Jesus comes again there will finally be peace on earth. You have the promise that right now you can have peace; the peace of God in your heart. You can know that when you breathe your last breath on this earth you will have eternal life in heaven with Jesus.
For our Closing song let’s sing: “For Unto Us a Child Is Born.” #146
Closing Prayer of Commitment
